Fersiwn Gymraeg ar gael yma
New independent economic analysis, commissioned by RSPB Cymru, National Trust Cymru and Wildlife Trust Wales, has found that the current agricultural budget for Wales is half the amount required to meet nature restoration and climate targets through farming and land use in order to help put Welsh farming on a more sustainable footing.
We’ve said in previous blogs that the Sustainable Farming Scheme must help farmers bring back nature and tackle climate change while producing food sustainably and reinforcing the resilience of farm businesses. We’ve also said that in order for that to happen effectively, there must be adequate budget.
This new report builds on previous independent analysis and gives us the most accurate assessment we have to date of the annual investment required to enable Welsh farmers to deliver for nature and climate alongside food production. The £594 million figure the new report identifies, includes detailed analyses of different farm types and the variable costs of nature restoration across different sectors and sizes of farms. This figure is twice the amount of the existing Welsh rural budget and has increased by £100 million per annum since the last analysis just over twelve months ago. This increasing scale of need is why we’re calling on the Welsh Government to commit to a long-term multi-annual investment in nature and climate friendly farming from now on. With the effect of nature and climate crises worsening, any further delay to future proofing the agricultural sector will cost much more to fix.
We are heartened to see the growing recognition of the wider benefits that investing in nature’s restoration brings. As well as providing the air we breathe and the water we drink, nature provides us with healthy soils to produce our food. Restoring nature is vital to our future food security, including making farming more resilient to the worsening impacts of extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, droughts and flooding, resulting from climate change. Farming with nature is also often more profitable, being less reliant on expensive animal feed and fertilisers.
Now that the implementation of the Sustainable Farming Scheme has been delayed until 2026, we urge the Welsh Government to be ambitious in its plans. This includes ensuring the scheme is properly funded to reward farmers for tackling the nature and climate crisis and securing future food production.